Subsitute Kisses
by Mordreds Girl
Summary: It's Valentine's Day at the Mansion. . .and Rogue's feeling a bit left out. At least until someone shows up at her window, ROMY. REPOSTED!


REPOSTED because it seems to have vanished from the archive.

So I'm probably following a hoard of other people by posting a ROMY v-day fic. . .but I don't care. . .

This popped into my head about two weeks ago and wouldn't leave me alone (I feel like I'm abandoning Bones). This is my first time writing X-men, so I hope I didn't do too bad. . . enough blathering! On with the fic!

She sat staring at the ceiling as Kitty bustled about their room preparing for her date. Rogue wasn't quite sure how Valentines Day snuck up on her, she was usually good at remembering when she should avoid the couples of the mansion. Then again, she'd been so caught up if finishing up her senior year without getting kicked out and trying to gain a least an ounce of control over her mutation that she hadn't even changed her calender yet. With a small groan she realized that that fact was going to bug her now until she fixed it. As she got up she noticed Kitty tottering around in heels that looked a bit too high for her.

"Kitty, are ya sure about those shoes?" she asked as she made her way to her desk.

"Of course I'm sure Rogue, I mean Piotr's soooo tall. I'm gonna need all the hight I can get." Even with those heels Rogue was pretty sure that Piotr was going to tower over her roommate. Before she could voice her opinion, however, there was a knock on the door. "Ya want me to get that, or do you think ya'll can manage on your own?" Kitty gave her a half-hearted glare before making her way to the door and opening it. "Piotr," Kitty cooed. "I'll be out in just a moment, 'kay?" Not even waiting for his response she closed the door. "Homigawd! He brought me a corsage. Isn't that just the sweetest thing ever?" Rogue rolled her eyes.

"If you say so," she muttered as she watched Kitty _run_, which was pretty impressive in those heels, and snatch up her jacket before going right through the door. Rogue just shook her head before returning to her bed, trying to decide what to do. She knew that some of the other dateless girls were doing a movie night, but she wasn't in the mood for romantic-anything. She was wondering if she should try and 'borrow' the kitchen TV for the night when her stomach rumbled. _Two birds with one stone then_, she though wryly.

Entering the kitchen she was surprised to see Kurt there. She tried not to ask, but apparently her mouth wasn't with the program. "I thought you and Amanda were going out tonight?" Kurt glanced up at her before returning his attention to his sandwich.

"_Nien mien schwester_, her parents found out and forbid her from going." She gave him a hesitant pat on the shoulder before opening the fridge. Cold pizza, cold cuts, leftover soda from last night, salad, and a tupperware container she was slightly afraid to open, she was pretty sure green fuzz wasn't a good thing. With a sigh she took out the pizza and grabbed herself a plate. Pulling off the plastic wrap she slid a few slices onto her plate before popping it into the microwave. While her pizza was reheating she put the rest of it back in the fridge and examined the arm the TV was attached to. "Hey Kurt." "_Ja_, Rogue?" "Wanna help me get the TV into my room?"

It was nearing midnight when she finally kicked Kurt out of her room, after telling him to put the TV back of course. Turning back to face her bed she wrinkled her nose as she finally realized what a mess they'd made. Stripping off her gloves she began pulling off her sheets. Taking them out into the hall she dropped them into the laundry chute. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the bathroom was empty and she rushed back to her room to grab her shower stuff, she was pretty sure that Kurt had gotten some ice cream in her hair.

Fifteen minutes later she emerged feeling refreshed and returned to her room. After putting her pajamas on and putting new sheets on her bed she pulled out her straight iron. She was debating on whether or not to straightening her hair tonight or tomorrow morning when there was a sharp _tap, tap, tap_ on her window.

For a moment she wasn't sure that she'd actually heard what she thought she'd heard, but then it happened again, _tap, tap, tap_. She turned to her window to see who it was and gave a growl of annoyance when she noticed her curtains were closed. Briskly she went over to her window and tugged on the cord that pulled her curtains up. . .and nearly let go of it when she saw Remy LeBeau on the other side of her window.

"If you could open up for dis one, dat be real nice _ch__é__re_." His voice was slightly muffled by the glass but she understood him well enough. She rolled her eyes at him before unlocking and sliding open her window. He was climbing in before had even finished, "thanks, _cherie_." She glared at him as he made himself comfortable on her bed. "What're ya doing her Remy?" "Why dis one came to see you _ch__é__re_." If her eyebrows could have flown off her face they would have. "An' you couldn't have come to see me earlier? Like say a year and a half ago?" Remy winced.

"Dis one _is_ terribly sorry 'bout that, but dis one was. . .busy." At the hesitation in his voice some of her anger abated, a week after her 'kidnapping' he'd called and let her know he'd rejoined the Thieves Guild and that he wouldn't be able to see or call her for a while. Of course at the time she'd though 'a while' meant a month or two not a year and a half. "But dat is the past," he said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "An' dis one is here now." He patted the space next to him on the bed. "I've got a surprise for you." Well she hadn't been expecting that, "what?" He gave her a cheeky grin. "Sit next to dis one an' you'll find out."

The thought of sitting next to him reminded her that she wasn't as covered as she would've like to be. She grabbed a sweatshirt and some gloves from her dresser before making her way to her bed. Remy pouted, "dis one liked you without dat." She shook her head as she made herself comfortable, "and Ah'd rather not kill ya'll. So what's my surprise?" "Close your eyes, _ch__é__re_." With an exasperated sigh she did as he'd asked. The sound of a bag being opened reached her ears, followed by a slight rustle, and the sound of tin-foil.

"Remy, what are ya--" Her sentence was cut off by a piece of chocolate suddenly placed in her mouth. Closing her mouth she rolled the chocolate around and was pleasantly surprised when the outer shell broke and something that tasted like caramel rushed over her tongue. When the last of the chocolate had melted she opened her eyes again to see Remy grinning like a madman, a bag of Hersey's Kisses (filled with caramel) in his lap. He held out the bag and waggled his eyebrows, "so. . .You wanna give dis one a Kiss?" It was so corny she couldn't help but laugh. Still laughing she grabbed a Kiss from the bag and carefully unwrapped it before placing it in his waiting mouth. She watched, slightly entranced, as he closed his eyes and consumed the Kiss in the same way she had.

Half an hour later she leaned back against her headboard, "Ah don't think I can eat anymore." Remy pouted, "but dis one went through all the trouble of gettin' _bon bons_ wit bourbon in 'em." She raised an eyebrow. "Yer serious, arn't ya?" He nodded, and with a flourish produced at tall round tin from his coat. "Jus one, and then Ah'm kickin' ya'll out." He pouted again and she gave him her serious face in return. Realizing she wasn't going to give in he sighed, "fine, jus one. Now close your eyes again." Her eyes automatically slid shut. She heard the tin open with a definitive 'pop' and she dearly hoped that Logan hadn't heard it.

A wrapper crinkled as it was opened and a few moments later she felt the press of the chocolate against her mouth. Parting her lips slightly she let the chocolate fall into her mouth and her eyes popped open when she felt the wrapper nearly follow its content. Remy's own eyes were mere centimeters from her own and while the plastic of the wrapper was slightly abrasive it didn't detract from the warm press of his lips against hers. In the back of her mind there was the slight fear that somehow they'd touch and she'd kill him, but a few moments later she realized that he wasn't actually moving, a mere second after that he pulled away.

"An how was dat _ch__é__re_?" She wasn't sure if he was asked about the chocolate or the kiss, though she'd been so distracted by the kiss that she hadn't even noticed that the she'd swallowed the chocolate. "It was alraight," she finally replied. He gave her a half smile, "dis one would love to change your opinion of dat, but you're kickin' dis one out, so dis one will leave." A smile graced her own features as he scooped up her hand a placed a gentlemanly kiss on her knuckles. "But dis one will see you again soon, and dis time he does mean soon."

He, almost reluctantly, let go of her hand and she watched as he easily jumped from her window to the tree a foot or two away. A moment later his head popped back into her room, "goodnight _ch__é__re_, an' sweet dreams to you, if dreams der be." "Goodnight Remy," she replied softly. His head disappeared and she waited until the sounds of the tree rustling vanished before getting up and closing her window. She tidied up her bed, disposing of all the wrappers and putting away the leftover chocolates, before turning off the lights and going to bed.

The next morning she awoke feeling better than she had in weeks. With a disturbingly cheerful spring in her step she made her way to the kitchen. The smell of numerous breakfast foods assaulted her nose about halfway there and her stomach rumbled at the thought of a nice, large, Sunday brunch. Maggie, the newest teacher at the institute, waved a spatula at her as she entered.

"Morning Rogue! How would you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled please, but Ah can do it myself." Maggie rolled her one good eye at her. "Nonsense _girsheach,_ I did it for everyone else, I can do it for you as well." As Maggie scrambled her eggs, Rogue grabbed a plate and went to the buffet. A minute, and a near overflowing plate, later she sat down next to Abby and Kurt who were chatting about something excitedly in German. Breakfast passed in a pleasant blur of small talk and people comparing Valentines gifts. After putting her dishes in the dishwasher she made her way back to her room to get dressed, Kitty had hinted about a girls only trip downtown.

Opening the door to her room she frowned slightly when she noticed her bed had been made. Cautiously she walked over, wary of any pranks. Half way there she noticed the two playing cards sitting on her pillow. With a roll of her eyes she relaxed, glad Jamie hadn't decided she needed frogs in her bed as well (he'd done it last week to Abby and she'd chased him around with a fencing saber for an hour and a half before the Professor finally told them to stop). Flipping over the first one, she smiled at the nearly illegible scrawl covering the single heart: _See you soon ch__ér__e_. The next one had the same scrawl but the message wrapping itself around the club just seemed gibberish (granted she hadn't taken a French class since she'd filled the foreign language requirement): _Rien Impossible_.

Still smiling she slipped both cards under her pillow to join the queen he'd given her and finished getting ready for the day.

Please review and let me know what you think. . .or if you've spotted any mistakes. . .

The ace of hearts and the ace of clubs (from the website I checked) mean a new love and a new endeavor.

Girsheach (geer-shuck) – young girl (It's Irish Gaelic)


End file.
